


It’s Just a Nickname

by GalahadWilder



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Identity Reveal, accidental reveal
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-15
Updated: 2018-04-01
Packaged: 2019-02-03 00:56:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 3,940
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12737763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GalahadWilder/pseuds/GalahadWilder
Summary: In Adrien’s defense, he couldn’t have known that Marinette was going to steal his phone.Still, saving her number under Chat’s nickname for her was a truly boneheaded idea.





	1. Chapter 1

“Phone, phone, where the CATS is my phone?” Adrien hissed to himself as he rummaged through his gym bag. Fencing had just let out and he needed to call Nathalie to let her know where he was—given how often he’d been disappearing lately, he wasn’t entirely surprised at how paranoid she’d become. But his phone was missing. Had he dropped it somewhere? Ugh, she was going to kill him.

“Looking for this?” said a familiar voice from behind him.

Adrien turned, and there—to his immense surprise—stood Alya Cesaire, dangling his phone precariously between two fingers.

He snatched it from her hand before she could drop it. “Merci a Dieu,” he breathed. “Where did you find it?”

Alya stared at him, then began to laugh. “FIND it?” she giggled. “You seriously still think you lost it?”

“What do you mean?”

Alya tossed her hair over her shoulder. “This is, like, the fourth time Marinette has left you an embarassing voicemail and had to steal your phone to delete it before you can hear it.”

Adrien nodded, sliding his phone into… wait, what?

Marinette?

She’d been leaving him _voicemails_?

Why would she be doing that? They weren’t that close, as far as he could tell. She was a friend, he supposed, but she barely acknowledged him, to the point of barely ever speaking to him even if she went out of her way to talk to everyone else in the class. Was she trying to prank him? If so, it was poorly executed, because he hadn’t noticed. And why keep stealing his phone? What was the point?

“What did the voicemail say?” he found himself asking.

Alya grinned and pointed at the phone. “You’ll just have to see for yourself, loverboy.”

“What do you mean? Didn’t you delete it?”

Alya shook her head. “Not this time,” she said. “Marinette was too busy screaming.”

Adrien raised an eyebrow. Screaming? What? Why would Marinette…

Oh. Oh no.

“So I’ve got a question for you…” Alya began, barely audible beneath the rushing pulse in Adrien’s ears. He opened his phone screen.

_New Message From:_

Oh, cats. Cat in a Camembert Trashcan.

“Why do you have Marinette’s number saved as ‘Princess’ on your phone?”


	2. Chapter 2

“Oh god, oh god, oh god,” Marinette said. She hyperventilated as she paced her room, rapidly clenching and unclenching her fingers, tensing her legs, trying to work the stress out through her muscles. “Oh god oh god _oh god oh god_.”

“What’s wrong, Marinette?” Tikki said, finally extricating herself from the bag on Marinette’s desk. She held the crumbs of an old cookie between her... fingers?, but was ignoring it at the moment, staring instead at her Chosen with concern in her eyes.

”I left Adrien an awkward voicemail again,” Marinette said.

Tikki giggled. “Marinette, this is the fourth time!” Her smile darkened. “Did you steal his phone again?”

Marinette swallowed and nodded, staring at her desk.

”You... you found something.”

Marinette nodded again.

Tikki dropped her cookie crumb and flitted up to Marinette’s face, hugging her cheek as wide as her tiny arms would allow. “Oh, Marinette,” she murmured. “I’m sorry.”

”And now I don’t know what to do!” Marinette said, her fingers skittering nervously across the surface of the desk. “He... I just—”

Tikki sat down on the desk. “What was it you saw?”

Marinette sniffled. “Adrien had my number saved. As Princess.”

Tikki blinked. “He what?”

”My number was listed as ‘Princess’ on his phone, Tikki!”

”But... that’s great!” Tikki swooped with joy. “Adrien likes you!”

”Or he’s Chat,” Marinette mumbled.

”Well, maybe?” Tikki said. “Chat does call you Princess... but maybe that’s because he likes you too!”

Marinette shook her head. “No,” she said. “Chat’s just a flirt. You’ve seen how he is around Ladybug, AND me.”

”But Adrien isn’t!”

”Then why would he write my name as Princess?” Marinette shot back. “There’s no way he’s noticed me.”

Tikki stopped. “I’m confused. Which side are you arguing for again?”

Marinette dropped her forehead to her desk with a groan. “I don’t even know anymore, Tikki.”

”Okay, so, we have two possibilities,” Tikki said. “The first is that Adrien is Chat Noir.”

”Doesn’t make any sense,” Marinette mumbled, still face-first in desk. “Chat is so...” She waved her hand. “And Adrien is... you know, not that.”

”Okay.” Tikki put her hand to her chin. “Second possibility: Adrien likes you.”

”No way,” Marinette said. “The clumsy girl who can barely even string together a sentence around him without collapsing? Why would he have noticed her?”

Tikki crossed her arms. “Can you think of a third reason?”

Marinette threw herself backward in her chair, letting her arms dangle towards the floor. “I’m sure there’s _something_!”

Tikki shook her head, smiling. “I guess you’ll just have to ask him!”

Marinette practically leaped forward. “Oh no, I am NOT doing that,” she said, jabbing her finger in Tikki’s face. “I am going to avoid Adrien for the next week if I have to.”

”Hmm.” Tikki floated to the window. “Well, good luck with that, because I think that’s his limo downstairs.”

”His WHAT?” Marinette shrieked. She raked her fingers down her face. “Oh god, Alya told him, he knows I stole his phone, he heard the message, I’m doooooomed!”

Tikki giggled. “You’ll do fine,” she said, diving back into Marinette’s bag. “Good luck!”

Marinette stared into the purse. “Oh, god,” she said. “Where do I even start?”


	3. Chapter 3

“So...” Adrien said, finally breaking the silence. “I listened to your voicemail?”

This was apparently the wrong thing to say. Marinette froze, her skin going white and her sparkling blue eyes turning from ocean waves to cracking ice. Adrien could swear he heard her stop breathing.

He scratched the back of his neck. Oh, boy. This... was not going well.

”Did... did you mean it?” he whispered, barely allowing himself to hope.

Marinette’s eyes somehow got even wider. “Of—of course not!” she said with a nervous giggle.

Adrien’s stomach bottomed out. Of course she didn’t. Of course this incredible, amazing girl didn’t feel the same way about him that he did about her. Of course the feelings that he hadn’t even realized he’d been denying were unreturned. Of course she didn’t love him.

He wished he’d never even heard the voicemail.

”Yeah, no, I just... even if I did, that’s not how I’d say it,” Marinette said, continuing to ramble, with characteristic Marinette aplomb—i.e. flailing. “I mean how could I when every time you’re around I get so tongue-tied I can’t even remember my own name? It’s not like we’ve ever really spoken much or anything...”

She knocked the mouse on her computer, awakening the screen, and Adrien’s breath caught in his throat. No—his heart leaped into his—no, he could feel EVERY SINGLE ONE OF HIS ORGANS ATTEMPTING TO STRANGLE HIS ESOPHAGUS.

There, on her screen, was him. A collage of images, some from photoshoots but mostly candids, shots Alya had taken whenever she’d seen him make a genuine smile. They were pasted together over a pink background, with glittery pink hearts looping over the entire thing.

”Oh, cats,” he breathed. “Marinette...”

She stared at him, a mouse panicking before the gaze of the oncoming hawk. As if she was terrified of him. ”Why am I in your phone as ‘Princess?’” she blurted out suddenly.

”Wha...” he began, then reversed course. “Why did you steal my phone?”

Marinette clapped her hands over her mouth. “I had to!” she squeaked. “The voicemail made me sound like a creepy stalker and you’d never accept me if I’m a creepy stalker!”

” _Accept_ you?” Adrien’s mind was utterly blown, still reeling to try and catch up with the things he was seeing, the things he was hearing. He could barely formulate a response. Was this how _she_ always felt around him?

She sighed. “Of course you wouldn’t,” she said. “I just...” She sniffed, her eyes glistening. “I wish—” She stopped and stared at him. “Please don’t hate me,” she whispered.

As if he could deny those eyes anything. Before he even realized what he was doing, Adrien stepped forward and wrapped her in his arms. “Of course I don’t hate you, Princess.”

It slipped out of his mouth without his permission. It had been instinctive, completely accidental... and it had damned him.

Both of them stiffened.

Oh, cataclysm. He’d just given away everything. Ladybug... Ladybug was going to hate him. More important,  _Marinette_ was going to hate him.

She shoved him away. “What did you just say?” she whispered.

”I, uh, I...”

”Adrien.” Marinette’s gaze, suddenly full of white-hot fire, was utterly focused on him, and he could feel it burning every inch of his soul. “Did you just call me Princess?”

”It’s... it’s just a nickname,” he offered, weakly, but even he didn’t believe it this time.

”The only person who calls me Princess is Chat Noir.”

”Uh...”

There was nothing for it. No plausible excuse he could give. Nothing he could say that would deflect it. He’d blown his identity.

”Hi?” he said, grinning weakly.

She slapped him. Hard.


	4. Chapter 4

There were a lot of things Adrien could have expected Marinette to say. “You’re such a dick,” “get out,” “I’m Ladybug,” “kiss me,” “I never want to see you again,” “you can’t be Chat Noir”—any combination of things would have made sense. In fact, seeing her drop her pants, turn into a bird, and fly straight through her Plaggdamned window would have made more sense than what he actually heard her say.

”You should have lied to me.”

”I... what?” Of all the things Adrien knew about Marinette, “she hates liars” was somewhere near the top of the list. She might as well have said he should have thrown her off a building.

”You SHOULD HAVE LIED TO ME.” All traces of anxiety on Marinette’s face vanished, replaced by steely determination. “Do you have any idea how dangerous that was?”

”More dangerous than falling in love with you?” Adrien retorted. Then snapped his mouth shut. Wait. Cats. He hadn’t... that wasn’t what he’d meant to say.

Marinette blinked. “You... what?”

”I... uh... hypothetically!” Adrien said, scratching the back of his neck. “You know, cause I’m so close to you and if Hawkmoth thinks that I’m in love with you then...”

Marinette’s face passed through five different shades of red, and then one of purple, before Adrien realized she’d stopped breathing. “Uh... Mari?” he ventured. “Are you okay?”

She swallowed. “Chat,” she said, “Why do you call me Princess?”

”It’s a nickname—”

She interrupted him with a delicate hand on his chest. ”Yes, but _why_?” she said. “A nickname comes from somewhere...” she trailed off. “Doesn’t it?” she finished, her eyes falling away from his face toward the floor.

Adrien stared at her. Tried to speak, but there weren’t any words. What could he say? What _did_ he mean? It had just... felt natural. He called her Princess because she deserved to be treated like one. He called her Princess because that’s what she was. He called her Princess because... because...

”I’m an idiot,” he whispered.

Marinette looked up. “What?”

”I’m an idiot,” he repeated. “I... all this time I thought we were just friends, but—you’re right, I should have lied, I _would_ have lied to _anyone_ else but not you. Never you.”

She stared at him, eyes wide. Confused. What was he saying, they seemed to ask?

Good question. What WAS he saying?

He was saying... “Marinette Dupain-Cheng,” he was saying, “I think I might be in love with you.”

He collapsed onto her chaise lounge. “I think I’m in love with you,” he repeated.


	5. Chapter 5

“Is that what you said to Lila, too?” Marinette croaked.

”What?”

Adrien looked up to see Marinette wiping her eyes. She was _crying_. “How many other girls have you said that to?”

Adrien stood, stepping towards Marinette to hug her, to make it better, but she stepped back. “You’re... you’re exactly as bad as—as I thought you were, aren’t you,” she sniffled. “How many girls, Chat?”

”It’s not like that!” he protested. “It was only ever Ladybug... or at least—”

”Bullshit!” she yelled, her voice hoarse. Adrien took an involuntary step back, nearly tripping over the chaise—he’d never heard her swear before. “So ‘I’m the only one who can make you give up Ladybug,’ huh? Sure, that’s a GREAT line! Does she know you’re using it?” She swallowed and wiped her eye. “Does she know you’re using _her_?”

Adrien’s arms were shaking, his fingers twitching, panic energy pouring out of him with nowhere to go. “Marinette—”

”Save it,” she said. “I need you... I need you to leave.”

* * *

 

Patrol was quiet the next day. Ladybug seemed mad at him for something, he couldn’t tell what, but that was okay. He was fairly angry at himself anyway. With one sentence, he’d fucked up one of his most treasured relationships, and lost one of his best friends.

They reached the end of their patrol in silence, before Chat finally found the nerve to say something. “Ladybug?” he began, weakly.

”What?” she snapped. Yep, definitely angry.

”I need a favor from you.”

She stared at him, her mouth an impassive line, and said nothing.

”Do you remember Marinette?” he said. “That girl from when we fought Evillustrator?”

Ladybug raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, I do,” she said. “Why?”

”She...” Chat sighed. “Please don’t hate me.”

”What happened?”

”She figured out my identity.”

Ladybug groaned. “Chat, come on!”

Chat put his hands up in supplication. “I know, I know! It was stupid, and I made a mistake, but she shouldn’t have to pay for it!” He dropped his hands. “She... doesn’t want to see me anymore, but as long as she knows who I am she’s in danger. Can you... can you protect her?”

Ladybug stared at him, bit her lip. “Of... of course,” she murmured. “That’s what we do, right?”

”Yeah,” Chat said with a resigned laugh. “It’s what we do.” He sat down at the edge of the building, his legs out into the street. “Have you ever been in love?”

Ladybug joined him. “Once, yeah.”

Chat looked at her, surprised. ”What happened?”

Ladybug waved her hand. “He was a jerk,” she said. “Flirted with a whole bunch of girls while professing his love to me...you know, the whole...” she waved her hand again. “Casanova deal.”

”Ugh. Yeah, that sounds about right.” Chat hung his head. “I just... how do you know when you’re in love?”

Ladybug laughed. “What, you think _I_ know?” she said, wiping tears from her eye. “I’m a teenager, and the only guy I ever fell for is cheating on me with mys—” She clapped her hands over her mouth mid-word.

”Heh.” Chat clasped his hands in his lap, twiddling his fingers. “Yeah. I guess we wouldn’t know.”

”Why do you ask?”

“Because...” He sighed. “Because I need advice. Girl trouble.”

Ladybug scoffed angrily. “What, one of your groupies find out about the others?”

Chat sputtered. ”Why does everyone keep assuming I have groupies?”

”Because you flirt with anything that moves,” Ladybug spat.

”No I don’t!” Chat yelled. “It was only ever you!” He quieted, his head dropping. “Or at least I thought it was.”

Ladybug blinked. “You... what?”

“It’s... Marinette,” Chat said. “I thought I was in love with you, but... I don’t know anymore.” His eyes widened and he desperately waved his hands in front of his face. “Not that I don’t care about you! You’re still my best friend, you know? I’m just... not clear on my romantic feelings, anymore.” He sighed. “This is probably stupid to talk about with you, but... she won’t talk to me, and there isn’t anyone else.”

Ladybug crossed her arms. ”You could talk to your Kwami.”

Chat rolled his eyes. “Right, like _he’d_ be any help.”

”I’m not sure I’m much better.”

”I know, I just...” Chat sighed. “I’m desperate, okay? She’s one of my only friends, and I think I may have screwed up in a big way.”

Ladybug drew back, her head tilting. “Is this about Marinette?”

Chat nodded. “I didn’t... realize how I felt about her, until yesterday. I thought I... well, I thought I was in love with you.” His shoulders slumped. “I guess I was in denial? But I can’t deny it anymore. I think I’m in love with her.” He gritted his teeth. “And I told her. And... she knows about... us.”

Ladybug glared. “There _is_ no ‘us.’”

”I know!” Chat said. “But... I wanted there to be. And she knew that.” He sighed. “And... I don’t know. I guess she thinks I’m a two-timer. Or she’s my second choice.”

”...Is she?” Ladybug asked, her voice suddenly soft.

Chat barely noticed, shaking his head instead. “Being with you is wonderful, My Lady, but being with her...” He chuckled. “When I think of ‘home,’ now, I don’t see my house anymore, did you know that?” He cast a sidelong glance at Ladybug. “I see hers. And her room. And her smile.”

He heard Ladybug’s breathing hitch, and looked up to realize she was crying.

Chat narrowed his eyes. “My Lady?” he asked. “Are you all right?”

”I... yeah,” she said, wiping her eyes. “I’m—I’m fine.” She grabbed his hand, intertwining her fingers between his own. “You really do love her, don’t you,” she murmured.

”Every part of me that doesn’t belong to you, belongs to her,” he said.

Ladybug smiled, tears glinting at the edges of her mask. “Patrol’s over, Chat,” she said. “You should go home.”

Chat’s face fell. Here she was, shoving him off, just like he’d always feared she would—and why wouldn’t she, after he’d betrayed her? Even for Marinette? He wasn’t looking forward to another lonely night in the mansion.

Ladybug saw his expression and chuckled. ”Not that home,” she said. “Your real home. With her.”

Chat looked up at her, incredulous. “You... you’re okay with this?”

She nodded. “Go,” she said, kissing his hand. “I’ll meet you there. After all, someone needs to vouch for your honesty.”

Chat grinned, wider than he could remember grinning in months. “Thank you, My Lady,” he breathed, then stood and began to vault the short, yet all-too-long distance across the rooftops to Marinette’s house.


	6. Chapter 6

“Marinette?” he said, knocking on the skylight. “Hey, are you there? I came to apologize.”

There was no answer. In fact, her lights were off... was she even home?

”Marinette?” he murmured. “Please... I’m sorry.”

”It didn’t even occur to you that maybe she should be apologizing to you,” Ladybug said, alighting on the balcony behind him. “Did it, minou.”

He barely even turned. “She’s not here,” he said. “I don’t know where she is.”

Ladybug shrugged. “I’m sure she’ll come home soon,” she said. “Mind if I wait with you?”

”Thank you.”

She sat next to him, kicking her legs out over the street. He could hear her opening her mouth, closing it again. Trying to find the words.

”Ladybug?” he said, his voice soft. “What’s wrong?”

Her lips twisted. “Can I tell you a story?” Her voice was small, quiet. Guilty, for some reason.

Normally he would’ve smirked, made a joke, but maybe not tonight. Not when she looked like she was about to tear apart. Instead, he nodded.

”A few months ago,” she said, “I developed a crush on this boy in my class.”

Chat knew he had no right to the spike of hot jealousy that landed through his chest, especially not after what he’d told Ladybug about Marinette. Still, it was there. ”Is this the Casanova?”

Ladybug closed her eyes, sighed, nodded. “I guess so. But... I’m not sure if he is, really.”

Chat raised an eyebrow. “You seemed pretty certain earlier.”

”Ugh.” She leaned back and waved noncomitally in his direction with a smile. “Let me get on with the story, you stupid kitty.”

Chat mimed zipping his lip.

Ladybug smiled again. “Anyway. This boy... I try to get him to notice me, but I’m really bad at it, you know? Can’t say a word around him for months.” She sighed. “So I do some bad things. Some stupid things. I invade his privacy, steal his stuff, and he still didn’t even know I was there. And then there’s...” She gestured to her partner, encompassing his whole body with a wave of her hand. “This other guy.”

”...Do you mean m—”

”Shh. Other guy.” She leaned forward and wrapped her arms around the heating on Marinette’s fence. “Let’s call him... Chat. Keeps flirting with me, but never lets it get serious. So I’m thinking, okay, he’s just a flirt, you know?” She bit her lip. “And then... Glaciator.”

Chat swallowed. He remembered that fight, when Ladybug has pretended to be in love with him. And the disastrous date afterwards.

”That was the first time I really believed you, you know,” she said. “That was when I realized that maybe... you did mean it every time you said you loved me.”

Oh. _Oh_. He... he hadn’t realized.

”I kept the rose, you know,” she said. “But then... well, then I find out... that the boy I had a crush on and the boy who said he loved me were the same boy the whole time.”

Chat stiffened, all the hairs on his arms standing on end. He felt his lungs seize in his chest. Had she just...? “You... know?” he croaked. Marinette entirely forgotten.

”Hello, Adrien,” she replied, staring out onto the street below.

”How did you—”

”And so here’s my problem,” Ladybug continued. “This boy has been in my room, seen all the photographs of _himself_ on my wall. He’s seen my computer background, which is him. And he _still doesn’t notice me.”_  Shesniffled. “So I suddenly realize... that I don’t know either of these boys as well as I thought I did.”

Chat gaped at her. He had no idea of any of this—she’d brushed him off for so long, he’d thought... when had she first developed a crush on Adrien? When had she even MET him? And... Glaciator...

There was something else she’d said that he was missing, too. Something that wasn’t quite making it through the middle, but he’d be damned if he knew what it was.

”So when I find out that this boy has told someone else he loves her... it hurts.” She sniffled again. “Oh my GOD it hurt.”

Chat opened his mouth. “My Lady, I’m so sorry—”

She cut him off with a wave of her hand. “Hang on, you big goof,” she said. “Let me finish.” She wiped her nose, and her eyes were sparkling. With tears or laughter, he couldn’t tell.

”So anyway. This boy. He tells someone else he loves them—and he does it with the same sincerity that he told me.” She shook her head. “And it didn’t matter that the someone else was also me.” She smiled ruefully. “Spots off.”

Pink lit up the balcony, the flash blinding against Chat’s night vision. He blinked furiously, trying to clear the spots from his eyes—and when he could see again, Ladybug was gone.

And in her place—in EXACTLY her position—was Marinette.

”I couldn’t understand how you could be so sincere to two separate girls,” she murmured. “I thought you were lying. I thought you were...” She hiccuped, wiped her nose. “I didn’t think you’d fallen for both of me.”

Chat was across the roof in an instant. Marinette in his arms. She sobbed into his chest. “I’m so sorry, Chaton,” she said. “Can you ever forgive me?”


End file.
